- Squib
- Squib Squib (skw[i^]b), n. [OE. squippen, swippen, to move
swiftly, Icel. svipa to swoop, flash, dart, whip; akin to AS.
swipian to whip, and E. swift, a. See {Swift}, a.]
1. A little pipe, or hollow cylinder of paper, filled with
powder or combustible matter, to be thrown into the air
while burning, so as to burst there with a crack.
[1913 Webster]
Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze. --Waller. [1913 Webster]
The making and selling of fireworks, and squibs . . . is punishable. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]
2. (Mining) A kind of slow match or safety fuse. [1913 Webster]
3. A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a brief, witty essay. [1913 Webster]
Who copied his squibs, and re["e]choed his jokes. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
4. A writer of lampoons. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers. --Tatler. [1913 Webster]
5. A paltry fellow. [Obs.] --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.